About this collection

Following the conclusion of the French Indochina War in 1954, Vietnam was divided into communist North Vietnam and noncommunist South Vietnam. In the late 1950s, North Vietnam activated communist cadres in the South in an effort to take the country by force. Concerned that these actions might trigger a wider war in the area, America pursued intervention eventually committing armed forces in March 1965. Hoosiers volunteered and/or were drafted to serve in all military capacities during what became a controversial conflict at home (known in America as the Vietnam War). In 1973, the Paris Peace Accords were signed. U.S. troops were withdrawn and many prisoners of war were repatriated. North Vietnamese forces overran the South Vietnamese army by 1975 and created a unified, communist Vietnam.